The Yearbook Book Review

THE YEARBOOK BY HOLLY BOURNE

Reviewed by Alicia

The dramas, the traumas, the rumours – it’s time to expose it all… The Perks of Being a Wallflower meets Mean Girls in this scathingly funny and relatable high-school takedown from the queen of UKYA.

Most likely to…be forgotten
Working on the school newspaper, Paige is used to dealing with fake stories. How popular girl Grace is a such an amazing person (lie). How Laura steals people’s boyfriends (lie). How her own family are so perfect (lie).

Now, Grace and friends have picked their “best” high-school moments for Paige to put in the all-important Yearbook. And they’re not just fake. They’re poison.

But Paige has had enough of all the lies in her life. And with the help of Elijah – the only boy who could ever understand her – she’s going to reveal the truth.

Official Summary

Paige Vickers: a girl who is invisible at school and even in her own house. Paige gets roped into helping the three biggest bullies in school with the yearbook. Paige decides to retaliate against the bullies and the school system that offers little to no help for bullied students.

The author captured the viewpoint of a teenager really well. As someone who is the target demographic, I found the book relatable. This book made me stop and think about how many other people could relate to the book.

The main character, Paige, was written amazingly. All I wanted to do was hug Paige. You cannot help but feel sorry for her. Especially with everything that happens at school and then she still doesn’t feel comfortable at home. However, I found the side character to be very two dimensional. Especially the three main mean girls, Grace, Amelia, and Laura. They were mean and that was their only personality trait.

The book made me feel sad, I couldn’t help but hate that Paige’s life is so bad and that people go through that every day and some people have it worse.

My favourite character was Elijah. I loved how he stood by Paige. Even when terrible rumours were going around about Paige. I liked how mature he was and did not blame Paige for the things people were saying about him.

Overall, the book was great. I liked how the author didn’t have any problems tackling hard subjects in this book. Although it is a bit sad, I think every teenager should read it at least once. It is a nice reminder that you never know what someone else is going through.  I would highly recommend this book to young adult readers.

Author: Holly Bourne – ISBN: 9781474966825 – Publisher: Usborne Publishing – Pages: 448- Source: Review copy from Penguin Random House South Africa

About The Author

Author Bio from the Author’s Site

Holly Bourne is a bestselling and critically acclaimed author. Inspired by her work with young people, and her own experiences of everyday sexism, Holly is a passionate mental health advocate and proud feminist.

Holly started her writing career as a news journalist and was nominated for Best Print Journalist of the Year. She then spent six years working as an editor, a relationship advisor, and general ‘agony aunt’ for a youth charity – helping young people with their relationships and mental health. Inspired by what she saw, Holly started writing teen fiction, including the best-selling, award-winning ‘Spinster Club’ series which helps educate teenagers about feminism. When Holly turned thirty, she wrote her first adult novel, How Do You Like Me Now? examining the intensified pressures on women once they hit that landmark.

Alongside her writing, Holly has a keen interest in women’s rights and is an advocate for reducing the stigma of mental health problems. She has helped create online apps that teach young people about sexual consent, works with Women’s Aid to spread awareness of abusive relationships, and runs Rethink’s mental health book club.

Holly lives in London, but dreams of the day she has a garden, dog, chickens, and a beehive.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think in the comments below. Thank you Penguin Random House SA for this review copy!

Goodbye, my little book nerds…

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